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Not a bad lense...just keep them clean as possible and don't wear for too long each day

Being a short-sighted Myopia sufferer contact lenses seemed like an obvious alternative to spectacles what with constantly losing or breaking them. Contact lenses eradicated this problem! Focus monthly's were the first brand of lenses I ever tried...not too expensive so as a student I could comfortably afford them. I must admit these lenses were quite comfortable...at first but due to the necessity of having to re-use and re-use them they had a tendency to fray round the edges, dry out and slightly deteriorate. If they hadn't been sterilised properly overnight and stored in the correct solution this felt on occasions like putting grit into your eye the following morning.Focus monthly's are a product of Ciba Vision and retail at most opticians for about ten pounds a month (can be purchased in three month batches if more appropriate for the consumer) although prices can vary depending where bought and can be found at discounted prices on various optical websites. You will need to know the correct strength of lenses required if you intend to purchase online and check the diameter of the lenses as this plays a part in the overall comfort of it.

Lense strengths are in most circumstances predetermined by your optician with an eye test which lasts no longer than an hour. The general rule is the higher the number the stronger the prescription; '+' indicates a long-sighted sufferer and '-' in my case applies to the opposite...short sighted.These lenses are clear in colour with a slight tint of blue which can be seen when held on an angle. They are normally packaged individually in a saline solution for hygiene purposes ensuring the lense stays soft and free of bacteria.

Because these are monthly lenses and must be re-used my optician stipulated I should only wear them for a maximum of twelve hours a day. This wasn't what I wanted to hear! Especially when it's the weekend and being the party animal that I am I'll be out most of the time. I won't have a chance to fiddle with lenses and revert back to my glasses. This is where the downfalls became apparent; the longer the lenses were in the more gritty, tired and dry my eyes felt and when it came to putting them back in the following day it was really quite uncomfortable. It was always such a treat when the end of the month arrived and I could start on a new pair. You immediately notice the difference. The softness. The ease of putting them in.The worst I can report and I feel I must report it to give you a better understanding of this product comes in the summer months. In the summer I very often found the heat used to aggravate them a great deal and on numerous occasions my eyes became sore, itchy, tired and I'd experience a sore, red circle which appeared on my eyes around the edge of the lenses. I must admit this aided my decision to switch to dailies which in my opinion are much more comfortable, more hygienic, easier to look after and wait for it...you guessed it...more expensive.

Overall Focus Monthly contact lenses are good value for money if you intend to use them correctly and limit your usage to a few hours a day. Don't wear them day in day out like I used to.Oh and before I go I must mention the extra cost of saline solution which will need to be used every day to rinse, sterilise and disinfect them. Solution can cost anything from about ten pounds upwards per one month bottle although this can be cheaper when bought in bulk packs of three which retail at about twenty five pounds. Each bottle usually has a life span of just over a month so you might be able to stretch the solution a little longer than anticipated.

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I've been wearing monthly disposable contact lenses for years now, and I would recommend contact lenses to anyone as they will, without a doubt, dramatic improve your quality of life. I don't think I realised how much until I started wearing them, and short of laser surgery, there's no way I’d ever stop using them. What concerns me is this particular brand. I decided to go for daily disposables rather than my monthlies as it's just so hassle free, so incredibly convenient to be able to take them out and not have to worry about solutions and cleaning your case. There’s also the fact that they’re a lot more hygienic, and since I'd experienced some redness in my eyes (probably from not bothering to clean my case as often as I should) I made the switch. The lenses are comfortable; I just had problems taking them out. I shouldn't have had any problems since I'd been wearing lenses for years and I know how to take contacts out, but because the lens was thinner it was very fiddly. At first it was taking me around ten minutes to take out each lens, but I eventually got the hang of it. But because the lenses are only meant to last one day and they are so thin, they're not very durable. Twice when I was taking my lenses out the lens broke into little pieces (for those that don't wear contact lenses -daily disposable lenses are soft lenses, so the fragments weren't sharp) but once a lens comes apart in your eye it's almost impossible to get the bits out by yourself. You can't pick small pieces out of your eye with ease - trust me. So two times I had to go into the opticians and they had to turn my eyelid inside out and poke my eye for around thirty minutes, which is very distressing. I mean, there are worse things, but I couldn’t understand why I hadn’t had this happen with my other lenses but yet it happened twice within a short period of time with Focus Dailies. The optic ian said it does happen with all contact lenses and not just the dailies, but I believe it's far more likely to occur with dailies since they're not as durable. I do wonder whether it's just this brand or daily lenses in general. To happen once is unlucky - but twice is kind of ridiculous. I'm by no means trying to put people off contact lenses, but I’m just a bit wary of this brand. Having said that, the ease of having dailies is still worth the stress of an occasional broken contact lens, though it is a pain in the....eye!

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I never wanted to wear glasses. Not that there’s anything wrong with them, I just hated the feel and how they misted up when I got in the car on a rainy day, so I knew that contact lenses were going to be a better option for me. The thought of putting anything in my eyes put me off for a few years, but I was just going to have to face it. I tried yearly contact lenses, with a fiddly cleaner that drove me mad and I wasn’t too good about having the regular check ups, left them in much too long and only had them replaced when I managed to loose one. Well I'm a busy girl. I fancied the idea of daily disposables but they were too expensive as I wear them each day, so the optician suggested I try the Focus monthly disposables. Having a high water content these have felt so comfortable that the only way I know I am wearing is to wait until I am sober and walk in a straight line. If I bump into an unsuspecting wall or child then I know I have removed them. They are also tinted blue so easier to find if dropped, though the ones I have do not change the colour of my eyes. I find it difficult to throw them away at the end of the month after years of treating them like gold dust, terrified that I may loose one and have to buy another. For a monthly fee of £19.95 I receive 6 months of lenses, cleaner and a check up with a contact lens specialist. They will also replace any lenses that I have lost or damaged. I don’t know whether all opticians offer this type of scheme with the lenses but I have found it invaluable. I still have to clean them daily but the solution I use only takes seconds and the optician gives me six month worth when I collect my lenses so I have no worry of finding the extra money when I suddenly run out, or the temptation of not cleaning them regularly to make it last longer! Well I’m only human! When the optician receives my next six monthly pack of lenses they phone me to make an appointment to see the specialist before I can get at them. It’s reassuring to know that my eyes are being examined this regularly without any extra cost, especially using contacts. There is no way I would bother if I didn’t have that carrot dangling, knowing that I can’t receive any more until my eyes are checked. I would highly recommend these lenses and think that it is well worth asking your optician if they do these lenses along with this scheme.

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I have worn contact lenses for about 2 years now and have had to try a few different brands to find ones that suited me. I had been getting lots of problems with my eyes feeling dry with the other brands and consequently feeling like i had a rock in each eye by the end of the day, often resulting in me having to take them out and resort to wearing my glasses again. These however have a higher water content than many monthly disposables and since I have been wearing them I havn't had any problems with them at all. They are also handy because the central part of each lens is pale blue (dosn't show up on your eyes though) so it is easier to see what you are doing when you pick them up to put them in. If you have been having problems with your lenses drying out then ask your optician if you can try these.